Combination stop action for organs



Aug. 21, 1928. 1,681,373

1 H. M. SMITH COMBINATION 'STOP ACTION FOR ORGANS Filed Aug. 19, 1926 I5 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 21, 1928.

H. M. SMITH COMBINATION STOP ACTION FOR ORGANS Filed Aug. 19, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 (1 P m ATTORNEY Aug. 21, 1928. 1,681,373

v I H. M. SMITH COMBINATION STOP ACTION FOR ORGANS Filed Aug. 19, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ATTORNE Patented Aug. 21, 1928.

usirsn Ares laws PATENT orrics.

HARRY M. sMrrH, or cnAnron-n, ew JERSEY, Assmivon TO THE AEOLIAN COMPANY,

A GORPORATTON OF CONNECTICUT. V V

coMBINATroN sror Acrrolv FOR amass. I

Application filed August s, 1926. Serial no. 130,266."

gan console wherebythe latter can be, kept small in sizewhich is highly desirable especially in residence organs.

The further features and advantages of my combination stop action will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description in connect-ion with the annexed drawings showing one preferred embodiment V of my invention.

In said drawings, Fig. 1, is a necessarily more or less diagrammatic view of the elements and connecting circuits of said embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2, is the same but differs in showing some of the parts operated into new positions; Fig. 3, is a side ele-- vation partly in vertical cross-section on a larger scale than Fig. l of the stickers shown in said figure with their jacks, the jack-bars for operating them, the electrical contact bars and the other related operating and sup-.-

porting parts stated differently, Fig. 3, is

a view on the line 3 -3 in 4:,looking in the direction of the arrows;Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of part of a row of stickers and said related parts, in other words. is an elcvational view looking at the device shown in Fig. 8 as it would appear when viewed from the left hand side of said 3; Fig. i

is a perspective view of one of the ]ack'ac-I tuator bars and Fig. 6 is a similar View of one of the ack actuators detached, the aforesaid Figs. 8 to 6 inclusive serving to show structural details not so well brought out. if at' all, in the more diagrammatic views Figs. '1

and 2. The same reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.

Describing now my invention by means of the illustrated preferred embodiment, said invention comprises the combination and subcombinations of elements as follows l3 throughout indicates one of the terminals or poles of a battery or other source of current.

1-1 are stop tablets on the front ends of the stop-tablet bodles .2 tiltably supported on trunnions 3 1n openings provided to receive them in the usualboard'or panel provided for the purpose conveniently within the organists reach on the organ, console. 4 is an axlally extending electric contact from the rear end of each stop-tablet body. 5 and 6 areelectric contacts secured to the rear of the panel which are bridged by'the contact 4. when the given stop-tablet is tilted down, which is the on position of the tablets. to throw the respective'organ stops into operation with which theyareelectrically. con-f nected. The stops are indicated S S S and 1t Wlll be seen in Figs. 1 and 2that the lower-' most stop-tablet is tilted to complete the circuit to the stop S On the other hanch when T the tablets 1 are tiltedinto their up or ofP position the contact 4 "does not bridge or electrically connect the contacts 5 and 6 and therefore the relatedjstops are not thi-own into operation.

.pneumatics 7 acting to tilt the steps into their off position and. pneuma-tics 8 tilting them into their.on position. Any well known electropneumatic means or for that matter any other suitable kind of means may be used and 8 are pneumatics adaptedwhen col-I for operating the pneumatics 7 and 8 Accordingly Figs. 1 and 2 merely show said means c'liagrammatically and incompletely, it

sufficing to show that there is an electro-mag net 9 with thensual' armature valve 9 for controlling each pneumatic '7 and similarly an electro-magnet 10 and an armature valve 10 for controlling eachpneuma-tic 8.

Preferably on the front of the/console un- :der' or adjacent to the keyboard area. stop cancellation piston 14. a set-piston lofand a.

series of combination pistons 16. Referring now to the cancellation by a link 160 with anarm l7 projecting rig-- idly at right angles from a wooden bar 18. This bar is supported to swing on trunmons c c P n- 14, this operates a bell-crank 150. connected.

19 at its upper corners towards and away from the back of the console panel 20. 21-21 are contacts on the said bar 18 to co-act with contacts 2222 on the panel. When the cancellation piston is pushed in, all of the contacts 21 are brought against all of the contacts 22 and from the electrical connections in Fig. 1 it will be seen that electrical circuits are closed through all the magnets 9 which operate all of the pneumatics 7 to collapse them and to tiltall of the on stop-tablets into their off position. In short, every time the cancellation piston 1 1 is pushed in, it automatically clears all of the stop-tablets and therefore clears or cancels all of the steps which happen then to be active. A spring 14 automatically restores the cancel piston to its outward positionas soon as the piston is released. The set-piston 15 hasa similar spring 15 for the same purpose as have also each of the pistons 16 a spring 16.

Theset-piston 15 operates a bell crank 23 connected by a link 24; with8 arms 25, 26, 27 projecting rigidly at" ri ht angles from the 7 wooden bars 28, 39, respectively, all of said bars being pivotally supported by trunnions to swing towards and away from the console panel 20, the trunnions being at the up per corner of the bars 28 and '30, and at the lower cornersofthe middle bar 29.

Each of the bars 28, 29, 30 carries a series of contacts (analogous to the contacts 21previously described on bary18) adapted to engage stationary contacts on the console panel 20. There are two kinds of said stationary contacts :first, a series of long vertical metal strips 31-31 for cooperation with the contacts on both of the bars 28 and 29; thusthe contacts on bar 28' engage said contacts 31 when the set-piston 1S- pushed in as it is in Fig.1; and contacts on the. other bar 29 en gagesaid contacts 31-when the set piston is in its out position as shown in Fig. 2. Secondly, there is the series of vertically shorter station ary metallic contact SUI s 82 engaged by the contacts on the, bar 80 when the set-piston 15 is in as shown inFig. 1.

The combination pistons 1616 (of which it. will be noted there are a plurality whereas there is only one cancel pistonand only one setpiston) haveconducting inner ends 33 adaptresisting action of the coil spring 16) to bridge across and electrically connectthe contacts 34-35%. It willbe seen from Figs. 1 and 2 that the lower combination piston 16 is 'wired to the left hand or first panel contact" strip '31, whereas the upper combination'piston 18 Wired to the ad aCent or second panel contact strip 31. 'The bar 28 contacts which cooperate with said contact strips 31 will be seen to be wired to operate magnets 35 in the chamber 36, and further it will be seen, when the set piston 15 is in and one or-more of the combination pistons 16 are also in, that the corresponding magnet or magnets are energized. The result of the energizing of a i left as in Figs. 1 and a. These bars 41 will hereafter be called jack at-uatorbars or jack actuators beca ise ea 1 time one of them is swung to the left as just described by pushing in the set piston 15 and the corresponding combination piston 16, said jack actuator bar 11 engages and swings the adjacent jacks 42 about their pivots 13 by which they are pivotally supported on the sides of the respective upright rods 44- hcreafter rallea stickers.

' These rods oinstickcrs 4 1 are supported so that each is independently capable ofa short up and down movement. For example the first sticker 44 at the right in Fig. 1 is supposed to be slightly raised relatively to the other two stickers l-lwhich latter are in their normal down position. The jack actuator bars 11 are located relatively to the pivots a3 of thc respective rows of jacks 42 on the sticker so that when said bars are rocked to the left they strike the upper parts of the jacks (via, the part above the pivot) of any stickers that are down and so swing said acks so that their upper parts lean to the left in Fig. 1; orthey strike the lower part of the jacks of any stickers that are up and thereby I swin said particular jacks so that their upper tat ts 45 or the long contacts 46, said contacts 415 and at) v or nsulateu from each other and being supported in pairs as shown on wooden bars 47, therebein fair said contacts 45 I ck projecting beyondbthe side edge of said bar-s 1? so to overlie the upper e1 is of the row of jacks 42 on the stickers, said har being supported on trunnions -18 at its rear edge so that the said long and short contacts of said bar be lowered into electrical contact 'ith the upper ends of the jacks or vice versa raised clear of them.

It now becomes necessary to describe how the stickers re selectively raisedand lowered; also how tr e long and short contacts on the bars 1? (hereinafter callee contact bars) are operated and we t are the effects thereof.

Therefore reverting to the stickers 4 1, these are stllf metal s .DS (compare Figs 3 and 4) projecting freely, each through a slot-shaped hole in the top rail 49 of a suitalfle'rectan gular support ie L frame, whereas the lower ends of said sticl iers are provided with integral axially extending cylindrical projections or ends 44 adapted to reciprocate freely up and down in a hole in a celluloid disc countersunk and secured in the top'of a box or chamber 51 (compare Fig. 1) containing air under pressure. These lower ends 44 of the stickers project down into said, chamber wherein they are attached to. the movable boards of the pneumatics 52. Each sticker has its own pneumatic 52 for the purpose of raising and lowering it as will now appear Figs. 1 and 2 for simplicity showing only one These magnets 53 are wired as willbe seen from Figs. land 2 to the respective contacts on the heretofore described bar 30 which when the set piston 15 is in, engages with the contacts 32 which in turn are wired to the contacts 5 of the respective stop-tablets, the other contacts 6 of the said tablets being connected as shown to one pole or terminal of the battery or other current source B. Where the stop tablets 1 are tilted in their off position it will be seen that the circuits from the the current source B through the'related magnets 53 are not closed even though the set piston is in and the related pneumatics '52 will be expanded andtheir stickers 4-4 will be down. Howeverthe tilting of a stop tablet into its on position like the lowermost tablet in Fig. 1, will close the electric circuit through the connected magnet 53 (if the set piston be in as in Fig. 1) and will lift its armature valve 53 venting its pneumatics 52 to the atmosphere and collapsing it as shown in Fig. 1 and thereby raising the connected sticker 44 (first on the right in Fig. 1) into its up position.

In short, there is a sticker 44 for each stoptablet 1 and the connections are such that tiltingone or more ofsai'd stop-tablets into their on position results in raising the related sticker or stickers provided the set-piston 15 is in, all the other stickers belonging to the off stop tablets being unaffected, and therefore remaining in their down positions.

It has already been. described how the jacks 42 of the down stickers are swung with their upper ends to the left and the jacks of the up stickers with their upper ends to the right by the jack-actuator bars 41; and how said pistons 16 is in.

53 is'an electro-magnet one for bars are'in turn operated by'the neumatics 37 controlled b 7 the ma 'nets 35 fromthe contacts onthe bar 28 closed by the set piston 15 i when in its in position against the long strip contacts-31, said respective contacts 31 being in turn energized or not, depending upon which one, any, ofthe combination.

In short, there is a horizontal row of acks 42v for each jack actuator bar and for each. combination piston. For simplicity only two combination pistons are shown and consequently only two. horizontal-rows of jacks and only two jack actuators. However-in the actual organ depending on its size, there will be 15 or 20 or more combination pistons and thesame number of horizontal rows of jacks on the stickers 44 and the same number ofja-ck actuators 41 and of the long. and short contact bars 47. Also for simplicity only 3 stoirtablets and stickers-are shown but-in the actual organ there willbe many more,or

dinarily as many as there are stops in theorgan. l V I It now only remains to describe the means for operating the long and short contact bars 47. Eachof these is tiltable about its trunnions 48 byapneumatic55 in the chamber 36 operatively connected by a rod 56 with-anarm 57 extending rigidly from theback'of the given bar 47. As before, these pneumat ics 55. havetheir respective magnets 58 andarmature valves 58? for controlling them, said magnets being wired as shown in Fig. 1 from one pole ofth'e current source B to the respect-ive contacts on the bar 29 which it will be rememberedare brought against the long contact strips 31 by the actuation ofthe'set 'pis-. ten 15 into its out, position, but; even then 7 no electrical circuit is closed through any of thesaid magnets 58 unless .oneor more of the combination pistons 16 arapuslieddnwhereupon the particular long contact strips 31 connected with said pushed in combination pistons deliver the current to the related conllO tactson the. said bar 29 and these in turn to the related magnets 58 which thereupon op crate the connected pneumatics' 55 to lower the related contact bars 47'against the tops of the adjacent row of jacks.

It, will be seen from Fig. 1 that the long contacts-46am wired respectively to the magnets 9- which when energized bi'ing'about the collapse of the pneumat-ics 7 to'tilt the stop tablets up'into their off position. Similarly' itwill be seen that the short, contacts 45 are wired respectively to the magnets 10 which when energized bring about the collapse of the pneumatics 8 totilt the stop-tablets do'wn into their on positionllike the H lowest stop-tablet 1 in Fig. 1). wherein it will be remembered thatthe electrical-circuits are completedto the related stops so that notes played on the organ keyboard will said energized stops.

sound on r In short wherever a jack 42 has been tilted with its upper end to theright in Fig. 1, a short contact 45 will engage it and automatically tilt into on position the related stoptablet so that the organist will have a visual signal of the stop that is on and at the same time said stop will sound for all notes then being played on the keyboard. On the other hand Wherever a jack '42 has been tilted with its upper end to the left in Fig. 1, along contact 46 will engage it and automatically tilt into off position the related stop-tablet if it happens to be on and will shut off the related stop from sounding; or if said stoptablet happens to be already oil, it willbe left as it was. 1 v

The following is a summary of the mode of operation of my combination stop action as a whole, it being understood that the general purpose'of any combination stop action is to permit the organist to set the stops he wishes to use in advance of the playing of the composition so that all he has to do during the playing is to push in one combination piston after the other of the series of combinapushed in.

2. Set up the first set of desired stops by tilting the corresponding tablets 1 down into their on position and then momentarily push in the first of the series of combination pistons 16. y

Explanationz -The downtilting of the stop tablets results int-he lifting of the corre-' sponding stickers 44 because the circuit from the source B is closed through the contacts 5 and 6 of the stop tab-letsthrough the related contacts 32 and those of the bar 30 and through the related magnets 53, resulting in the collapse of the related pneumatic-s 52 and the lifting of the related stickers 44. 01' course all other stickers remain in their nor mal down position.

Pushing in the first combination pistonresults in rockingthe related jack actuator 41 against the adjacent row of jacks 42 because the circuit from the source B is closed, through the contacts 34 of the particular combination piston and through the related contacts 31 and those of the bar 28, and through the related magnet 35 in the chamber 36 resulting in the collapse of the related pneumatics 37 and the rocking of the related jack actuator bar 41 as aforesaid.

The effect of rocking said jack actuator 41 is to tilt the jacks 42 with their upper ends to the right on all of the raised stickers; and to tilt all acks on all down stickers to carry their upper ends to the left if they are not already in that position. i

In short, the stop-tablets tilted on by the' organist for the first set of stops he desires to useare now represented in the mechanism by jacks42 with theirupper ends tiltedtothe right on stickers 44 belonging to said particular stop-tablets,said jacks being located.

the stop-tablets and tilt them all into oifl position wherein. their contacts 5 and 6 are open eircuited and consequently all ofthe sticker magnets are de-energized and all of their pneumatics 52 areexpanded and therefore all of the stickers 44 are lowered.

4. Then set up the next set of desired stops by tilting on the related tablets and push the next combination piston 16 in the series following this momentarily with pushing in the cancel piston to clear all on tablets.-

This is obviously a repetition of the three steps above, the only diilerenec being that due to the operation of a different combination p ston, the new combination of stopsis represented by jacks tilted to the right in a' different horizontal row from'that on which the first combination of stops was set up.

5. Repeat the above operation until the entire series of stop combinations has been set up on the different horizontal rows of jacks by using one combination piston after the other, of which as already stated there may be 15 or 20 or more depending on the size of the organx j 6. Release the set piston 15 which now auto matically returns to its out. position and.

closes the contacts on bar 29 against the com tacts 31 but opens all the other contacts as' shown in Fig. 2.

7 Finally start in playing the keyboard, momentarily pushing in the combination pistons 16 one after the other at the proper time keyboard and continue to sound until the next combination piston is pushed in. Explanation: With the set piston 15 out, the momentary pushing in of any combination piston 16closes the circuit from the current source B through related contact 31 and the contact on the bar 29 and through the related magnet 58 in the chamber 86 resulting in momentarily collapsing the related pneumatic 55 and the momentary contacting of the long and short contacts 45 and 46 of the related bar 47 with the adjacent horizontal row of jacks 42 as indicated in Fig. 2,-the short contacts" 45 closing circuits from the source B through the stickers 4A and the jacks 42 on said stickers that have their upperends tilted to the right .through'the related magnets which collapse the related pneumatics 8 and tilt the related stop tablets down into their on position and so activatethe related stops representing the combination which the organist'previously set up. a

=On the iother'hand the long contacts 46 wherever they touch j ack-s with their upper ends turned'to the left as indicated in Fig.2

closecircuits from the source B through all related magnets 9 which collapse all related pneumatics 7 and thereby clear all stop tablets and all stops which may have-been active in the previous combination but are not comprised in the present combination which the organist desires to sound for the notes being played at the keyboard.

It onlyremains to referito thefollowing details ofconstruction shownin F igs.- 3 to 6. Each of the jacks 42 preferably consistsof a. piece of sheet metal shaped as shown with bent over lugs 60 acting as stops forthe two positions of the jack by respectively engagmg when in said positions the edge of the stickers 44. 61 is. alight spring connecting the-lower end of the jack with the sticker so 7, that even apartial tilting of the jack/one way or the other by the jack actuator bar is automatically and positively completed by the springs Also the spring prevents the jacks from being unintentionally jarred vor shaken out of their rzproper'adjusted positions. The upper end of each jack isibent over .as a support on which a short piece of noncorroslve elecctricalcontact Wire 62 is laid and SOlClGlGdzx The ack actuator bar 41 and the construction of the related supporting and operating parts is shownin end view in Fig. 3 and in the fragmentary perspective view Fig. 6 which latter shows a portion of one end of said bar. "f V The contact bar 47 and the construction of the related supporting and operating parts isshown' in end view in Fig. 3 and in the fragmentary perspective view Fig. 5, which latter shows a portion of one end of said bar. The rear ends of the contact wires are secured in spaced relation by being clamped between theftop of the wood bar and a wooden or non conducting strip 63 secured to the bar. Their forward ends extendrbetween lugs Msecured to the bar at its front edge, said lugs permittingup and down movement of the contacts but not lateral displacement relatively to one another. l i

Ghanges and modifications may be made in the foregoing partial embodiment ofmy invention whlch Wlll nevertheless still be pathin the spirit of the foregoing (IlGSCI'lPtlQIlZLIlCl within the meaning and spirit of the annexed is claims and which, as sucln are accordingly intended to be covered hereby. 1 i What I claim is: a V 1.; The combination stop action fororgans comprising means conveniently called stop-' tabletsmdividual to the stops of the organ and severally movable into on and off-positions for respectively sounding and silencing said stops; a plurality of members conveni ently called stickers, severally adj ustableinto two positions conveniently called-No. 1 and No. 2; a row of parts, conveniently called jacks, one on eachof said stickers, saidjacks being severally adjustable into two positions conveniently called No.1 and No. 2; a set .of sticker-operating means, one vfor each of J the aforesaid stickers, each means controlled by a stop-tablet for adjusting the related sticker from its No. lposition intoits No. 2

position and vice versa; means conveniently called a jack actuator bar,supported ad acent to the aforesaid row of jacks formovement; to and from the same and operable froma. control, conveniently called a combination a piston, to adjust into their No. 1 position the jacks on any and all stickers that are in their No. 1 position ;1 and to adjust into their No.

2 positon the jacks-'onany and ,a'llstickers I that are in their N o. 2 position; a row of contacts movable as an entirety and convenlently called a contact bar, supported adjacent to the aforesaid'row of jacks, controlled by the 2. The combination stop actlon for organs comprising means conveniently called stops tablets individual to the stops of the organ and severally movable into on and offzpositions for respectively sounding and silencing said stops; a-plurality of members conveniently called stickers, severally adj u'st-able into two positons convenientlycalled No; land No. 2; a row of parts convenientlycalled jacks, one on each of said stickers saidjacks being severally adjustable into two positions conveniently called 'No. 1 and N o. 2; a set of sticker-operating means, onefor' each of a the aforesaid stickers, each means controlled by a stop-tablet for adjusting the related 1 sticker from its No. 1 position into its No. 2 positionand vice-versaz; means conveniently called a jack actuator bar, support-ed adjato be movable to and from said jacks; there being two contacts for each jack conveniently called contacts No. 1 and No. 2, one of which No.1 engages the jack only in its-N0. 1 position and the other of which, No. 2 engages said jack-only in its N o. 2position and means between the respective contacts'No. 1 and No. 2;and the respective stop-tablets and'organ stopswhereby one of them when it contacts with the jack puts on the related tablet andorga'n stop, whereas the other when it contacts with the jack puts off said tablet and stop.

3. The invention of claim 1, further characterized by switching means operated by a control conveniently called a set piston, for operably connecting the aforesaid combination piston at will either with the jack actuator'bar or-with the contact bar. 1

4.- The combination stop actionfor organs comprising means conveniently called stoptablets individual to the stops of the organ and severally movable into on andofi positions for respectively sounding and silencing said stops; a plurality of members conven iently called stickers severally adjustable into two'positions conveniently called No.1 and N o. 2; a set of sticker operating means one for V each'of the aforesaid stickers, eachvnieans controlled by a stop-tablet for adjusting the related sticker from its No. 1 posit-ion into its No.-2 position and vice'versa;'and switch means operated by a control conveniently "called a set-piston for connecting or'disconnecting at will the aforesaid operative connections between the respective stop-tablets andthe sticker operating means.

5. The combination of claim 1 further characterized by there being a plurality of the'aforesaid rows of jacks; each row having itsown jack actuator bar and its own contact bar including the respective operatingmeans thereforiand its own combination piston; also its own switch means operable by the setpiston for shifting the control by the combination piston to operate at will either v the jack actuator bar or the contact bar; said "gctliei' so as to be operated by same set-piston. I 6. Thecombination stop action for organs individual switch means being combined toone and the comprising means conveniently called stoptablets individualto the stops of the organ andseverally movable into on and off positions for respectively sounding andsilencing said stops; a plurality of members conveniently called stickers, severally adjustable into two positions conveniently called No. 1 and No. 2; a row 'of parts conveniently called jacks, one on each of said stickers, said jacks being severally adjustable into two positions sticker-operating means, one for each of the aforesaid stickers, each means controlled by a stop-tablet for adjusting the related sticker from its No. l'position into its No. 2 position and vice versa'; means conveniently called a jack actuator bar, supported adjacent to the aforesaid row of jacks for movement to and from the same and operable from'a. control to adjust intotlieir No. l-position the jacks on any and all stickers that are in; their No. 1

position; and to adjust into itheiriNos2 position the jacks on any and all stickers'that are in' their No. 2 position a row of contacts movable as an entirety and conveniently called a contact bar, supported adjacent to the aforesaid row ofjacks, controlled to be mova ble to and from said jacks, there being a con tact for eachjack which contactstlierewith or not depending upon whether the jack isin its No. 1 orlNo. 2 position, said contacts being operatively connected with the respective organstops; Y I

7. The combination stop action for-organs conveniently called No. 1 and No. 2; a set of i comprising means conveniently called stoptablets. individual to the stops of the'forgan and severally movable into on andofi' posisaid. stops; a, plurality of members conveniently'called stickers, severally adjustable into two positions conveniently called. No. l and No; 2; a row of parts conveniently called jacks, one on each of-said stickers, said jacks being severally adj ust-able into two positions conveniently calledNo. 1 and No. 2.; a set of sticker opcrating means, one for each of the aforesaid stickers, each ineansicontrolled by a stop-tabletfor adjustingthe'related sticker from its No. 1 position into'its No. 2 position and vice-vei'sa; means conveniently called a jack actuator bar, supported: adjacentta the aforesaid row of jacks for movement to and from the same and operable from a control to adjust into their No. l position the jacks on any and all stickers that are in their No. 1 position; and to adjust into their No. 2

position the jacks on any and all stickers that are in their N o. 2 position; a rowof contacts movable as an entirety and conveniently called a contact bar, supported adjacent to the aforesaid rowof jacks, controlled to-be movable to and from said'jacks, there being two contacts for each jack conveniently called contacts 'No, 1 and No. 2, one of-which N o.

1 engages the jack only in its No. l -position tions for respectively sounding and silencing and the other of which, N0. 2, engages said jack only in its No. 2 position; and means between the respectlve contactsNo; 1 and N0. 2 and the respective organ stops whereby one of them when it contacts with the jacks puts J,

on the whtted organ stop, Whereas the other hen it contacts With the jaw]: puns off I August A. D. 1926.

' V HARRY M. SMITH. 

